The Main Topic: The Methods and Techniques Suited
To The Field of Education

ISBN:
0-7069-3852-3

Reviewed By: Susi Susanti
Tindaon (State University of Medan)

Reviewed Published: April 2012

1.INTRODUCTION

This
is the third edition of Lokesh Koul’s book. The first and the second edition
ofhis book which is written by Lokesh
Koul in 1984 and 1988 has been written for use as a text in the research
methodology course and as a useful reference for students working for their
Master’s or Doctoral degree and also for researchers interested in conducting
research in Education and other related disciplines. The book has been very
popular among students, researchers and teacher of education, physical
education, sosiology, psychology, economics, commerce, law, home science,
humanities, biosciences, and management studies mostly because its content
material, examples and illustrations have been drawn from Indian situations.

This
third edition of Lokesh Koul’s book is really updates, expands and further
clarifies a number of ideas presented in previous edition. Additional concepts,
techniques and illustration have been added at a number of places. In the
chapter “Areas of Educational Research”, the treatment of areas such as primary
education, secondary education and higher education has been modified and
updated by highlighting spesific problems relating to educational needs of
various groups. The section on non-formal education as an altenative strategy
in the univesalization and futherance of education has been modified keeping in
view the education problems of girls. In the same context, a new section on
“Open and Distance Education” has been added. The section on “Priority Areas of
Educational Research in India” has been updated in the context of National
Education Policy (1986), it is the programme of action (1992) and survey of
research in education. A new chapter “Qualitative Data Analysis”, has been
added both highlighting various methods for the analysis of qualitative data
and different strategies used for validating and verifying results.

This
paper, try to give a view or try to describe about what Lokesh Koul’s written
in his book. Beside that, this paper also hoped to give some of critics to
Lokesh Koul’s book base on the other books view and and also the writer’s
opinions. May this paper can be usefull for those who read this paper such as
can give the more opinion about what Lokesh Koul written.

2.SUMMARY
OF THE BOOK

The third edition of the
Lokesh Koul’s book which is described about the methodology of educational
research, consists of 13 chapters, where 5 chapters has been added by Koul of
his latest edition. The thirteen
chapters of Lokesh Koul’s book are :

·Introduction

·Areas
of Education Research

·The
Research Problem and Preparation of the Reseach Proposal

·Review
of the Related Literatur

·Data
Collection

·Qualitative
Data Analysis

·Quantitative
Data Analysis

·Statistical
Methods

·Inferential
Statistics

·The
Research Report

·Methods
of Educational Research

·The
Descriptive Method

·Experimental
Method

The review of each chapter will explain under here.

Chapter
1 : Introduction

In this beginning of the
chapter, Lokesh Koul try to describe about the general purpose of the
methodology research. It describes the various methods of acquiring knowledges,
the nature of science, the meaning and characteristics of research, the nature
of educational research, basic and applied research and the end of this
chapter, Lokesh Koul give the tests.

Lokes Koul said that the
methods by which man from the earlier time sought answer to his problems can be
classified under the following categories : authority, tradition, experience,
deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning, and scientific method. That is about
the acquiring knowledge. Then Koul view about the nature of science in this
chapter. From the earlier times man has been curious about anything he could
not understand. Slowly and gradually he developed the scientific method of
thinking and of investigating his problem which, today is producing as
tonishing result. Koul said on his book that science is based on certain
beliefs and assumptions which are briefly describeds under :

1.All
events in nature are, at least to a degree, lawful or ordered, predictible and
regular. This order, predictibility and regularity of nature can be discovered
through the activities of the scientific method.

2.Truth
can ultimately be derived only from observation. Scientist does not depend upon
authority as a source of truth, but relies upon empirical observation.

4.The
scientist is objective, impartial and logical in collecting and interpreting
data or making observations.

5.Scientist
does not bother about the moral implications of his findings. He always deals
with facts and does not consider what finding is good or what is bad for us.

6.The
ultimate goal of science is to integrate and systematize findings into a
meaningful pattern or theory.

Futhermore, Lokesh Koul on
his book also describe about the role of scientific theories and characteristic
of a sound theory that explain about the definition of what is theory and the
explanation of four characteristics of theory in the part of nature of science
that are :

1.A
theory must be stated in simple and precise terms.

2.A
theory must be in conformity both with the observed and with the previously
established body of knowledge or validated theories.

3.A
theory must provide means for its own interpretation and verification.

4.A
theory must guide new discoveries and identify areas which are in need of
investigation.

Koul on his book said that
research may be defined as the application of the scientific method in the
study of problems. At times, the terms research and scientific method are used
interchangeably. Research is a systematic attempt to obtain answers to
meaningful questions about phenomena or events through the application of
scientific procedures.

Aducational research
refers to a systematic attempt to gain a better understanding of the
educational process, generally with a view to improving its efficiency. It is
an application of scientific method to the study of educational problems.

On this first chapter of
Lokesh Koul’s book also provide the opinion of an author named Traves that
explain the definition of educational research. Koul written that Traves states
the educational research is represents an activity directed towards the development
of an organized body of scientific knowledge about the events with which
aducators are concerned.

Then on this chapter Koul
also explain the historical development of educational research. He said that
the scientific era in the physical sciences began in the seventeenth century.
The emergence of education as a science is only eighty years old. It was due
not only to the complex nature of the phenomena to be studied, but also to slow
progress in the development of the measuring tools for collecting data of
educational interest. Koul said that As early as 1803, Pestalozziproposed the scientific study of pedagoy and
established his pedagogical school. Educational research before 1990 was
greatly influenced by the experiments in the field of psychology. Early in the
century, there was widespread interest in the exploration and development of
measuring instruments needed by researchers in the field of education and
psychology. While the period from 1920 to 1945 is considered a period of self
criticism and improvement in educational research techniques and designs.
Lokesh Koul have given the expert’s opinion in this part, named Harris (1960).
Haris points out that the four kinds of criticism that greatly influenced
educational research method during this period were : a) research workers gave
too little attention to the less tangible aspects of education; b) research
workers provided inadequate theoritical orientation for their efforts; c)
single variabel laboratory research was inadequate for the complex field
condition actually met in education; d)educational research gave too little
attention to individual. After the explanation of the Harris, Koul the explain
about the educational research after 1945. He said that since 1945, research
methods and procedures have been improved with the aim of attaining more
objective reliable information. Many new methods of data collection and
analysis were devised. The scope and fields of educational research have
greatly expanded. Lokesh Koul said that in India, importance of educational
research has been recognized rather late.

Lokesh Koul on this
chapter explain about the steps in educational research that arestarts with the selection of a problem that
the researchers identifies from the area or field of his interest, formulation
of hyphotheses, the method to be use, data collection, analysis and
interpretation of data and reporting the result. After that Lokesh Koul
described about the basic and applied research. According to his mind, basic
research is primarily concerned with the formulation of a theory or a
contribution to the existing body of knowledge. The main aim of basic research
is the discovery of knowledge solely for the sake of knowledge. Applied
research, on the other hand, is directed towards the solution of immadiate,
spesific and practical problems. The applied research also uses the scientific
method of inquiry and disign as action research. Action research is applied
research conducted by the teachers, supervisors, and school administrators
themselves for dealing with classroom practices.

Chapter 2 : Areas of
Educational Research

This chapter has the
following general purpose. First, it lists discusses research problems relating
to the following contents areas of education, second, it lists and discusses
the research problems relating to the following stages and sectors of the
education.

According to Lokesh Koul’s
mind, problems relating to content of education are:

1.Psychology
of education

Research
in educational psychology has great significance for a teacher.n he has to
understand the child he is teaching, undertstand the teaching-learning process,
and constantly strive to improve his method of teaching. Cognitive and
non-cognitive factors, such as intelligence, attitudes, creativity, interests,
motivation, personality traits, needs and adjustment of pupils provide
promising fields of research in educational psychology.

Lokesh Koul said the research
in educational psychology in India is of fairly recent origin. He explain that
according to Pareek (1967) an analysis of the material presented in the
Directory of Bihavioral Science Research in India shows that the reasearch
conducted in the various fields of educational psychology in the last sixty
years is hardly impressive. One of the most urgent tasks is to study problems,
arising within and outside the school, which affect the affectiveness of the
teacher in his task of improving the learning of students.

Another important area
where a good deal of research can be undertaking is that among the exceptional
children. It includes the study of all children who are either handicapped in
some way or are gifted. In case of psycally handicapped children, Lokesh Koul
said the opinion of Shanker (1968) which states that Shanker suggests that the
extent of the incidence of the physicaln handicaps, defects and deformities and
the types there of have to be ascertained. With regard to the mentally
handicapped children also, there is need to determined the number of children
of various degrees of retardation in the various states. Apart from this, it is
to be known which of the various factors of maltreatment, poverty, negligence,
broken homes, bad company, exploitation, maladjustment in the school, and so on
are so important in various states and regions in the country for necesarry
guidience.

Furthermore, Lokesh Koul
told about the the research in India. He said that the country like India can
not afford to lose creative genius. Thus research in the area of creativity
needs immediate attention if Indian researchers. Koul said that studies on
problem solving and logical operation using cognitive development theory of
Peaget and his methodology may be of immense use in classroom teachers.

In India, psychology of
education is to be recognized as one of the most important fieldof educational
research. This is the first and essential requisite for the emergence of good
research in education.

2.Philosophy
of Education

Education
has been called the dynamic side of philosophy or an active aspect of
philosophic belief. Of the various philosophical dimentions, logical dimentions
reveal various significant roles which logic can perform in the formulation of
educational concepts, generalizations and analogies, and in drawing out of
educational inferences. In view of the demand for a philosophical foundation of
education, there is an imperative need for undertaking research into the
various problems pertaining to its different dimentions.

Based
on research in India, Lokesh Koul said that there is need for the development
of a philosophy of education from the Indian stand-point. A philosophical
analysis of the problems of indiscipline, unrest, strikes, disobedience of
authority and the like in the context of the prevalent circumtances and
conditions would be highly significant and fruitful. According to Buch and
Sheshardi (1991) on the Koul’s book, they pointed out that hardly any
researchers have taken up problems related to the Indian society or Indian
classroom and studied them in dept.

3.Sociology
of Education

Sociological
factors have a great impact on the educational thought and practice. The study
of all such factors is of great practical significance. According to Lokesh Koul,
some important problems of research related to sociology of education are the
study of the population explotion and changes, demographic trends and the
impact of the political and social pressures on an educational system.

In
India, very few researchers have been conducted in the field of sociology
ofeducation. The problem like the
teacher’s role as an agent of social change and modernization, teacher’s
morale, the impact of population explosion on children admissions and academic
achievement in schools, and so on. On this chapter, Lokesh Koul also showed
Shah’s opinion (1987) that are said that in the third Survey of Research in
Education has revealed several research gaps in sociology of education.

4.Economics
of Education

According
to Lokesh Koul, economics of education is a rewarding area of educational
research. The major objective of research endeavour in this area is to apply
effectively the relevant economic analysis to the field of education with a
view to raise the efficiency of educational system at different levels and to
identify the role of education in social and economic development of the
country.

Lokesh
Koul said there is a need for economic evaluation of various educational
programmes undertaken by the state and central governments. The problem of
reducing the cost of education, increasing the resources for education, and
making the education more effective for economic advantage, can be useful
themes for action research.

5.Educational
Management and Administration

Research
in the area of educational management and administration should aim at
expanding knowledge which may help to explain various relationships underlying
the process of educational management and in building a theory of educational
management. Koul said that the quality of research conducted in the area of
educational management and administration in India is of a poor standard. A
review of such researches conducted during the period 1939 to 1980 indicate
that most of the studies on educational administration in India Universites are
a part of requirements for M. Ed and M.A (Education) degrees.

6.Comparative
Education

Political,
cultural, socio-economic and geographical condition have an impact on the
educational systems of various countries is a fruitful area of research.
Another area of research in comparative education could be of making intensive
area studies so as to gain insights into particular system of education.
Different part of the world have come closer because of the conquest of space
and distance. Due to this fact, peculiarities of a particular system of
education are fast disappearing and the problems of the education are getting
common to all countries.

For
India Lokesh Koul said that Education Commision (1966) has recommended a
two-stream pattern of secondary and higher secondary education. This idea is
similar to that of British Fifth Form and the Sixth Form.

Next,
Koul explain that comparative research programmes at the national level can
also be undertaken to cover all the states and union territories for
comparison, while the state level programmes can be confined to the comparative
study of one or two other states, preferably the neighboring states because of
their cultural affinity.

In
this part of the Koul’s book, he also also showed the opinion of two experts,
they are Deo and Kerawalla (1987), where they said in their review on research
in comparative education have observed that not a single study of comparative
nature is available on such crucial issues, as education for development,
politics of education, education of ethnic minorities, vocational technical
education, regional differences in educational provisions and educational
policy foundation.

7.Educational
Measurement and Test Development

On
this part, Koul explain that educational measurement is primarily concerned
with the quantification of certain educational outcomes in the form of the
acquisition of certain attitudes, behaviours and skills. Psychological tests
are developed and are used primarily for the determination and analysis of
individual differences in general intelligence, aptitudes, educational
achievement and non-intelectual personality characteristics.

Research
in educational measurement and test development is concerned with the critical
evaluation of the existing forms of tests, the construction and standardization
of valid and reliable tests for measuring the educational outcomes of teaching
spesific subjects and of various educational activities. Koul said that
effective evaluation of student’s attainment with respect to accepted goals of
instruction is considered an indispensable aspect of good teaching. Written
examinations and tests have commonly been used as the chief evaluation device
and have dominated our educational system to a great extent. According to the
University Education Commision (1948), if any reform in our education system
has to be brought about, it must first be brought about in the examination
system.

Then
Koul said that achievement tests for various subjects at different levels in
different languages need to the constructed and standarized. These would be
helpful in comparing the achievement of students passing their examinations
from different school education boards and universities; otherwise the
comparison just on the basic of their examination marks becomes difficult.

There
is also a great need for developing diffrent types of aptitude tests for
evaluating the spesific abilities of students. In this part Koul again and
again show the other expert’s opinion. They are Kulkarni and Kumar. According
to their mind, human behaviour is much more dependent on the environment in
which he is working.

There
are several aspects of student’s growth that can not be measured solely by
written examinations. Such aspects which include various personality-traits,
interets, needs and values are important for determining success in certain
educational and vocational fields such as medicine, social work, teaching and
the like. The field of educational measurament and testing has rich
potentialities for research.

8.Curriculum,
Methods and Textbooks

The
nature and scope of research in curriculum could be easily understood if the
meaning of the term ‘curriculum’ is properly analysed. In this part Koul showed
the opinion of Good’s (1959) Dictionary of Education, the word curriculum means
:

·A
systematic group of courses or sequence of subjects required for certification
in a major field of study.

·A
general over all plan of the content or spesific materials of instruction that
the school should offer the student by way of qualifying him for certification
or for entrance into a proffesional or a vocatioanl field

·A
body of prescribe educative experiences under school supervision, designed to
provide an individual with the best possible training and experience to fit him
for the society of which he is a part and to qualify him for a trade or
profession.

General principles of curriculum building,
analysis of curriculumin various subjects, organization of curriculum,
curriculum development, its transaction and evaluation, adaptation of curriculum
to children’s mental abilities and phisycal development, analysis of textbooks,
concept development in various subjects, affectivness of various teaching
methods, human relation in curriculum development, study habits, duration of
school work, revision and modernization of curriculum are some of the important
aspect of curriculum research.

9.Teacher
Education and Teaching Behavior

Lokesh
Koul describe in this part that teacher education is a term rather recent in
its origin. It refers to the total educative progress which contributes to the
preparation of a person for a teaching job in schools. The task of identifying
meaningful and measurable crieteria of teacher effectiveness is crucial in the
field of teacher education. Most of recent developments in the process of
teaching and learning reflect a shift in attitude of researchers with regard to
the assesment of teacher affectiveness.

Teacher’s
personality is one of the important variables in the teaching situation. In
India, teacher education has been comparatively neglected in post-independence
period though its significance has been stressed by the University
EducationCommision (1949), the
Secondary Education Commision (1953) and the International Team on Teachers and
Curricula in Secondary School (1954). The role of teachers in the context of
National Education Policy (NEP) need to be studied. Sufficient research has
alrealy been undertaken in some foreign countries in the modification of
teaching behaviour through the use of interaction analysis, micro-teaching,
team teaching and simulation. Some significant studies on the democratic-
authoritarian aspects of classroom climate have been undertaken.

10.Guidance
and Counselling

The
aims of guidance are both adjustive and developmental. This function is not
merely that of assisting students in making educational and vocational choices,
but to help them in making the best possible adjustment to the situations in
the educational institutions and in the homes. The field of guidance poses
problems of diagnostic and prognostic research. Research in guidance and
counselling should take into account the special conditions and limitations.

More
research is needed on long term manpower needs. Exploration of future needs and
probable supply, should be done in all the important fields. In his book,
Lokesh Koul again and again described about the Indian’s research, he said that
in Indian, the researchers have concentrated their attention mainly on the
problems related to vocational maturity and developmen, guidance needs and
problems faced by students, selection procedures and mental health.

11.Eduactional
Technology

The
term educational technology has generally come to have two different meanings.
One meaning refers to the detailed application of the technology of learning to
practical teaching problems. The second meaning of educational technology
refers to the application of engineering and technology in the development of
ectro-mechanical equipment used for instructional purposes.

After
Lokesh Koul explain about the problems relating to content of education, he
also explain the problems relating to different stages and sectors of
education, they are:

1.Pre-primary
Education

Pre-primary
education is of greatest importance in the child’s physical, emotional and
intelectual development. It has been rapidly gaining in popularity in the post
independence period. Some people are of the view that the pre-primary education
should be completely left to private enterprise while others prefer that the
responsibility for it should be largely assumed by the states.

Research
is also needed to settle the competing claims of quality and quantity. Lokesh
Koul explain more about the some problems relating to the existing pre-primary
schools need to be investigated. He said on his book that Education Commision
(1966) has suggested that there is need for more coordination among different
agencies that work for child care and pre-primary education.

2.Primary
Education

On
this part, Lokesh Koul said that the one of the major objectives of primary
education is to enrol every child in the age group 6-14 years into schools. To
eradicate the evils of wastage and stagnation, some studies in the field of
primary education were conducted. The scheme of part-time education especially
for the children coming from poorer families may also be experimented. The
selection of elementary school teachers for admission in training institutions
and their recruitment in the profession also provide significant areas of
research. Research is also needed to study the service conditions of elementary
school teachers.

In
this part, Koul said the National Policy on Education (1986) and its Programme
of Education (1992) has given unqualified priority to universalisation of
elementary education.

3.Secondary
Education

Koul
said that secondary education is concerned with the education of students of
classes VIII to XII. It covers the adolescent period of life. For several years
in the near future, it will not be possible for all states to make secondary
education universal, nor will it be possible on economic grounds for a large
majority of children to continuetheir education beyond the primary stage.

An
important aspect of the expansion of secondary education is the need to provide
part-time education to those children who are unable to continue their studies
on full-time basis and may wish to prepare themselves for high school
examination.

After
explaining about the secondary education according to his mind, then Lokesh
Koul try to show the understanding of secondary education based on the National
Policy on Education (1986) that has specified certain programmes for providing
adequate playground facilities, construction of additional classrooms and
provision of laboratory facilities.

4.Higher
Education

Higher
education is concerned with the education provided by colleges and
universities. Koul said that the goal of higher education in board terms are to
seek and cultivative new knowledge, to provide the right kind of leadership in
all walks of life, to provide society with competent men and women trained in
agriculture, medicine,science,
and technology and various other proffesions, and to promote quality and social
justice.

The
unrest among the students in the universities and colleges, the problem of
recruitment of university and college teachers, the controversy of quality
versus quantity, development of library facilities, improvement of teaching,
the medium of education and so on.

5.Vocational
and Technical Education

Lokes
Koul said on his book that Education Commision (1966) has recommended that
agriculture and technical education should also form a part of general
education. All primary schools including those situated in urban areas should
give an agricultural orientation to their programmes. Some agricultural and
rural problems should also be introduced in all theacher training programmes.
Reasearch, there for, is needed to set up the objectives of vocational and
technical education in the light of man-power needs.

The
non-formal education programmes for children of 6-14 age-group gained momentum
only during the last decade when the country accepted non-formal education as
an important alternative strategy of education to attain universalisation of
education.

7.Open
and Distance Education

In
the last four decade, there has been a phenomenal growth of distance education
all over the world. It has been recognized as a viable alternative to
conventional formal education system to increase accessibility, to achive
equity and to help continuing education. Again and again Lokes Koul try to
describe about the research in India. He said that in India, the distance
education started taking roots in the mid-seventies when a large number of
universities started institutes for correspondence courses.

Beside
that, Koul also explained that there’s an urgent need to identify academic,
professional and vocational courses at the higher education level keeping in
view the needs of various target groups including deprived section of the
society with the help of comprehensive survey studies. According to his mind,
experimental and follow up studies may also be undertaken for the development
of course material and their efficacy for the distance lerners at the school
and higher education levels.

In this chapter two, Lokesh Koul also
described about the priority areas of educational research. He said that
educational research in India, is of fairly recent origin and it is still in
its infancy. It is because the fact that the study of education as a subject at
the univeristy stage did not begin seriously until the forties. Though the
quantity of research work at the Master’s and Doctoral levels has increased significantly
over the years since independence, its quality has remained poor or mediocre.

Then Koul explain that the third and
fourth surveys of research in education (Buch, 1987 and 1991) and and
Educational Research and Innovation Committee of the National Council of
Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, have suggested some priority
areas in educational research keeping in view the National Policy of Education.

Chapter 3 : The Research
Problem and Preparation of the Research Proposal

According to Lokesh Koul
on his book, the first step in the research process is the choice of a suitable
problem for investigation. In each field of area of educational research,
several problems exist which may have reference to the pure, applied, or action
research. The identification of a research problem is a difficult but an
important phase of the entire research process.

Knowing
the field

it is first necessary for
a researchers to choose a broad field within which he will conduct the study. A
through understanding of the known facts and ideas in the field or area in
which the researcher is interests constitutes the first and most important step
in selecting problem for study.

Selection
of the Problem

After selecting of the
broad area, the researcher must narrow it down to highly spesific research
problem. It is not possible to list all the educational problems that need to
be researched.

Definition
and Statement of the Problem

On his book, Lokesh Koul
stated the definition of problem according to Whitney (1964), that is “problem
means to put a fence around it, to separate it by careful distictions from like
questions found in related situations of need”.

In the formal definition
of the problem, the reasearcher is required to describe the backround of the
study, its theoretical basis and underlying assumptions, and state the problem
in concrete, spesific, and workable questions. The first step is to specify the
variables involved in the problem and define them in operational terms. Koul
said in this study, the researcher might choose to define “effectiveness” as
the improvement made by the students in scores on a standardized criterion
test. The problem should be stated in such a way that it indicates a
relationship between two or more variables.

Evaluation of the Problem

1.Is
the problem researchabel?

There
are certain problems that may not be effectively solved through the process of
research. The point that is being emphasized here is that the problem must be
stated in workable research questions that can be answered empirically.

2.Is
the problem new?

Lokes
Koul said that to avoid such duplication, it is essential to examine very
carefully the record of previous studies completed in one’s field. The
researcher should not select a problem until he is convinced that it is really
a new problem and has not been investigate so far.

3.Is
the problem significant?

The
question of the significance of the problem usually relates to what a researcher
hopes to accomplish in a particular study. The researcher should show that the
study is likely to fill the gaps in the existing knowledge, to help resolve
some of the inconsistencies in previous research.

4.Is
the problem feasible for the particular researcher?

According
to Lokesh Koul’s mind, a problem may be a good one from the point of view of
the three criteria mentioned earlier, yet it may not be feasible in view of
some of the personal aspects of a researcher discussed below :

·Research
competencies

·Interest
and enthusiasm

·Financial
considerations

·Time
requirements

·Administrative
considerations

The
Hypotheses

Lokesh
Koul stated that hypotheses is a powerful tool in research process to achieve
dependable knowledge. It helps the researcher to relate theory to observation
and observation to theory. Hypotheses are formulated only as the suggested sollution
to the problem, with the objective that the ensuing study may lead either to
its rejection or to its retention. The importance of hypotheses may be
summarized as under :

·Hypotheses
facilitate the extension of knowledge in an area

·Hypotheses
provide the researcher with rational statements

·Hypotheses
provide direction to the research

·Hypotheses
provide the basis for reporting the conclusions of the study

However,
there are certain necessary conditions that are conducive to their formulation.
Some of them are:

·Richness
of backround knowledge

·Versatility
of intellect

·Analogy
and other practices

And
then Lokesh Koul try to describe the suggestions criteria to which should
conform in hypotheses according to Travers (1978):

·Hypotheses
should be clearly and precisely stated

·Hypotheses
should be testable

·Hypotheses
should state the expected relationship between variables

·Hypotheses
should be limited in scope

·Hypotheses
should be consistent with most known facts

·Hypotheses
should be stated as for as possible in simple terms

·The
hypotheses selected should be amenable to testing within a reasonable time

The Research Proposal and Synopsis

After the formulation of
hypotheses, the researcher should write out proposal, synopsis, or plan for
research including a statement of the problem and hypotheses, the research
procedures, the sample to be selected and the tools to be selected or developed
for the sellection of data. The research proposal is a systematic plan, which
brings to focus the preliminary planning that will be needed to accomplish the
purpose of the proposed study.

Koul explained that there
are certain specifications that are essential to good reserach and therefore,
all such specifications should appear in each plan. A worthwhile reasecarh
studyis likely to result only from a
carefully planned and well designed proposal.

Procedures
for Collecting Data

1.Sampling

In research situations, the researcher
usually comes across managable populations, where in large numbers are
involved. The researcher should be well informed about the scope and
limitations of each one of these sampling methods before he thinks of his own sample
in the study.

2.Tools

In other to collect evidence or data
for a study, the researcher has to make use of certain testing and non-testing
tools such as intelligence tests, aptitude tests, achievement tests,
personality inventory, observation, interview, questionaire, rating scales,
etc. The research proposal should explain the reasons for selecting a
particular tool or tools for collecting data.

Chapter 4 : Review of the
Related Literature

Purpose of the Review

Lokesh
Koul on his book said that review of the related literature, besides, allowing
the researcher to acquaint himself with current knowledge in the field or area
in which he is going to conduct his research, serves the following the spesific
purpose:

·The review of the related literature unables
the researcher to define the limits of his field

·Through the review of related literature, the
researcher can avoid unintentional duplication of well established findings

·The review of related literature gives the
researcher an understanding of the research methodology

·The final and important spesific reason for
reviewing the related literature is to know about the recomendations of previous
researchers listed in their studies for further research.

Identification
of the related literature

According to Lokesh Koul, the first step in reviewing the
related literature is the identification of the material that is to be read and
evaluated. In the primary sources of information, the author reports his own
work directly in the form of research articles, books, monographs,
dissertations or theses. While in secondary sources, the author compiles and
summerises the findings of the works done by others and give interpretation of
these findings.

The decision concernings the use of primary or secondary
sources depends largely on the nature of the research study proposed by the
researcher.

Koul tried to described about all the locating sources of
information. He said that a researcher should be familiar with the library and
its many facilities and services. He should also be acquainted with the
regulations governing the use and circulation of materials. Research scholars
and other readers are usually issued a library card giving them access to the
stacks.

Organizing
the Related Literatur

koul said in this part that after
making the comprehensive survey of the related literature, the next step for
the researcher is to organize the pertinent information in a systematic manner.
The organization of the related literature involves recording the essential
reference material and arranging it according to the proposed outline of the
study.

Chapter 5 : Data
Collection

Lokesh Koul tried to
describe this chapter into two major sections. The first section deals with the
definitions of population and sample and the steps involved in the process of
sampling. It also describes various methods of sampling.

Sampling

according to Lokesh Koul,
sampling is the process by which a relatively small number of individuals or a
measures of individuals, objects or events is selected and analysed in other to
find out something about the entire population from which it was selected.
Usually four steps are involved in the process :

1)Defining
the population

A
population refers to any collection of specified group of human beings or of
non-human entities such as objects, educational institutiuons, time units and
geographical areas. The population is properly defined so that there is no
ambiguity as to wheter a given unit belongs to the population.

2)Listing
the population

In
order to select a sample from a given population, it is also necessary to have
a complete, accurate and up to date list of all the units in the population.
Such a list is known as a sampling frame.

3.Selecting
a representative sample

Koul
said afterdefining a population and listing all the units, a researcher lects a
sample of units from the sampling frame. The process of such selection is
called sampling.

4.Obtaining
the adequate sample

If
the population under study is homogeneous, a small sample is cient. On other
hand, a much large sample is necessary if there’s greater variability in the
units of the population.

Methods
of Sampling

According to Lokesh Koul, sampling
methods can be classified into two broads categories, they are non-probability
sampling and probability sampling.

1.Non-probability
sampling

Koul said that
in non-probability sampling, the units are selected at the discretion of the
researcher. Such samples use human judgment in selecting units and have no
theoretical basis for estimating population characteristics. The
non-probability sampling methods are very convenient in the situations when the
sample to be selected is very small and research wants to get some idea of the
population characteristics in a short time.

2.Probability
sampling

In probability
sampling, Lokesh Koul explained that the units of the population are not
selected the discretion of the researcher, but by means of certain procedures
which ensure that every unit of a population has one fixed probability of being
included in the sample.

Data-Gathering Tools

In
this part, Lokesh Koul tried to explain about how to gather the data using
tools. According to him, a researcher will require many data-gathering tools or
techniques which may vary in their complexity, design, administration and
interpretation. The major data-gathering tools of research may be classified
broad into the following categories :

1.Psychological
Tests

Psychological tests are among the most
useful tools of educational research.the have been devised to evaluate or
measure behavior in standardized way for the purpose of selection,
clasification, prediction and guidance as well as for the evaluation of
educational programme.

Koul said that there are some general
principles and procedures which one has to follow which constructing a test,
they are planning, preliminary draft, the try out, item analysis and final
draft.

Psychological tests may be classified
in many ways. One distiction is made between power tests and timed or speed
tests. A further distiction can be made between paper-pencil test and
performance test. Two other classes of tests are non-standardized teacher-made
tests and standardized tests. Tests also can be classified in terms of their
purposes, that is, the types of psychological traits that they describe and
claim to measure.

2.Inquiry
Forms

Inquiry forms are a set of data-gathering research tools
which make use of poperly designed performas for inquiring into and securing
information about certain phenomena under investigation. Lokesh Koul said the
tools included in this category are questionnaire, schedule, checklist, rating,
scale, score card and opinionnaire or attitude scale.

3.Observation

Observation is the process in which
one or more persons observe what is occuring in some real-life situation, and
they classify and record pertinent in happenings accordingto some planned scheme. As
a good research too, observation needs proper planning, expert execution and
adequate recording and enterpretation.

The recording of the observation data
may either be simultaneous or soon after the observation. In viewing,
classifying and recording behavior, the observer must utmost care to minimize
the influance of his biases, attitudes and values on the observation report.

On
this part of Lokesh Koul book, he stated the statement or opinion of Brandt
(1972) about three kinds of reliability in observational measurement. First is
revealed by the ammount of inter-observer agreement in records of the same
behavior. A second kind of reliability has to do with the inconsistencies of a
single observer from one time to another. And the third kind of reliability is
concerned with the estimate of the variability of the trait itself.

Koul
said that the observational measurement can be valid only to extent that
recorded differences in score represent actual differences in behaviour rather
than differences in the impressions made on different observers.

4.Interview

Lokesh Koul stated that the interview
is a process of communication or interaction in which the object or interview
gives the needed information verbally in a face to face situation. For the
purpose of research, interview may be used as a tool for gathering data
required by the researcher to test hypotheses or solve his problems of
historical, experimental, survey or clinical type of research. In clinical work,
social workers and psychiatrists use interview to secure information about an
individual’s problems, his past history, job or family adjustment.

Koul also explained the techniques of
interviewing on this part of his book, they are : preparation for the
interview, conduting the interview and recording the interview. These technique
deal with preparation for the interview, conduct of the interview and recording
the data.

5.Sociometric
Techniques

In term sociometry is defined as the
measurement of the social relationship that exists among the members of the
group. Koul stated that sociometric techniqus attempt to describe attractions
or repulsions between group members by asing them to indicate whom they would
select or reject in various situations.

Numerous sociometric techniques are
used to measure social interaction within groups, sociogram, sociometric
matrices, Guess-who technique and social distance scale are most frequently
used in educational research.

Types of Data

The
data collected from various sources through the use of different tools and
generally comprise of numerical figures, ratings, descriptive narrations,
responses to open-ended question, quotations, field notes etc. In aducational
research, Lokesh Koul said that there are usually two types of data are
recognized. They are quantitative data and qualitative data.

1.Quantitative
Data

Lokesh Koul explained that quantitative data are got by
applying various scales of measurement. The experiences of people are fit into
standardised responses to which numerical values are attached. The quantitative
data are either parametric or non parametric. Parametric data are measured data
on interval or ratio scales of measurement. Non-parametric data are obtained by
applying nominal or ordinal scales of measurement.

2.Qualitative
Data

Qualitative data are verbal or other
symbolic materials. The detailed descriptions of observed behaviours, people,
situations and events are some examples of qualitative data. The responses to
open-ended questions of a questionnaire or a schedule, first hand information
from people about their experiences, ideas, beliefs, etc., and selected content
or excerpts from documents, case histories, personal diaries and letters are
other examples of qualitative data.

Chapter 6 : Qualitative
Data Analysis

On this chapter Lokesh
Koul tried to described the various techniques which produce data of
qualitative nature and discusses various methods which are used in the analysis
of qualitative data and their interpretation.

Organization
of Qualitative Data

The qualitative data gathered using
open-ended qustionnaire, participant observation and in-dept interview are
voluminous. They need to be organized and classified into spesific patterns,
categories, and descriptive units to avoid any chaos. According to Lokesh
koul’s mind, actual classification or organization can began only after the
copies made. There are no formal or universal rules which are the researcher
may follow in organizing the data in various units, patterns or categories.

Analysis
and Interpretation on Qualitative Data

Analysis of qualitative data means
studying the organized material in other to discover inherent facts. These data
are studied from as many angles as possible either to explore the new facts or
to reinterpret already known existing facts. The contents analysis, inductive
analysis and logical analysis are most used in analysis of qualitative material.

Lokesh Koul described about the
contents analysis here. He said that the steps in content analysis are defining
the unit of analysis, specifying variables and categories, frequency, direction
and intensity, contingency analysis, sampling, constructing the content
analysis outline and how the mechanics of coding.

After contents analysis, there is an
inductive analysis. Inductive analysis means that patterns, themes and
categories of analysis emerge out of the data. The patterns in qualitative data
are converted into meaningful categories.

And the last that the most used in
analysis of qualitative material is logical analysis.logical analysis aims at
creating potential categories in crossing one typology with another, and then
moving back and forth between the logical construction and the actual data for
creating a “new typology” using cross-classification matrices. Koul said the
researcher must be extremely careful in using this kind of analysis. He should
be sensitive to interpreting the possibility of a category of activity or
behaviour that has either been overlooked in the data.

Validation of Qualitative
Analysis

Lokesh Koul explained that in this
section is concerned with the major strategies that are helpful for validating
and ferifying the results of qualitative analysis. In this part, Lokesh Koul
stated the statement of Patton (1982) which said that he has listed the
following seven major strategies for validation of results :

1.Rival
Explanations

Once the researcher after qualitative
analysis has describes the patterns and their explanations, it is important to
look for rival or competing themes and explanations both inductively and
logically. Inductively it impplies looking for other ways of organizing the
data that might lead to defferent results. Logically it involves searching for
other logical possibilities and then finding if those possibilities can be
supported by the data.

2.Negative
Cases

The
search for negative cases and instances that do not fit within the identified
pattern and their understanding is also important in the verification and
validation of results.

3.Triangulation:
Reconciling Qualitative and Quantitative Data

This type of triangulation aims at
comparing data collected through some kind of quantitative methods with data
collected through same kind of qualitative methods. It is highly likely that
qualitative methods and quantitative methods will eventually lead to different
findings and not to a single and well integrated picture of the situation.

4.Triangulation:
Comparing Multiple Qualitative Data Sources

This type of triangulation according
to Koul, involves comparing and cross checking consistency of data derived by
different means at different times by using the qualitative methods.

5.Triangulation:
Multiple Perspectives from Multiple Observers

The aim of this kind of triangulation is to
involve triangulating observers or using several interviewers so as to reduce
the potential bias or subjectivity as a result of observation by single
observer.

6.Design
Checks: Keeping Methods and Data in Context

The nature of research design and
methodology also contribute to distortion in results. Sampling gives rise to
three type of errors. The errors may be due to: (1) distortion in the
situations that were sampled for the observation; (2) distortion introduced by
the time periods during which observations took place; (3) distortion because
of selectivity in the people who were sampled either for observation or
interviews.

7.Evaluator
Effects

The presence of researcher during the
observation or interview can distort the results of study. The distortion may
be due to: (1) reactions of programme participants and others associated with
it to the presence of researcher; (2) changes in the researcher during the
process of observation or interview; (3) biases of researcher; (4) incompetence
of the researcher. The basic objective of qualitative analysis is to provide
useful, meaningful and objective answers to the research questions of
researchers, decision makers and information users.

Chapter 7 : Quantitative
Data Analysis

Lokesh Koul said that in this
chapter reflects the following purpose. First, it deals with the organization
of quantitative data in terms of editing, classifying and tabulating the
information gathered through the administration various tools on the selected
sample or samples. Second, it describes certain modes which are helpful in the
analysis of the gathered quantitative data. Third, it deals with the various
modern computational mechanical aids which are used by redsearchers in performing
complex computations with speed and accuracy. Fourth, it describes briefly the
language and various elements of a computer system. Fifth, it deals with the
factors which the researcher should keep in view while making interpretations,
and formulating conclusions and generalisations.

Organization
of Quantitative Data

According to Lokesh koul,
organization of data includes editing, classifying and tabulating quantitative
information.editing implies checking of the gathered raw data for accuracy, usefulness
and completeness. Classification refers to deviding of the data into different
categories, classes, groups or heads. Tabulation is the process of transferring
classified data from data-gathering tools to the tabular formin which they may
be systematically examined.

Analysis
of Quantitative Data

Analysis
of data means studying the organized material in other to discover inherent
facts. Analysis requires an alert, flexible and open-mind. In this section,
Lokesh Koul stated the statement of Good, Barr and Scates (1941). They
suggested four helpful modes to get started on analysing the gathered data :

·To
think in terms of significant tables that the data permit

·To
examine carefully the statement of the problem and earlier analysis and to
study the original records of the data

·To
get away from the data and to think about the problem in lay man’s terms, or to
actually discuss that problems with others.

·To
attack the data by making various statistical calculations

Modern
Computational Mechanical Aids

Modern computational
mechanical aids are a boon to the modern researcher. They are used to save time
and effort and to minimize error during organizing and analysis of research
data. The computational mechanical aids commonly used are “desk calculators” and
“digital computers”.

1.Desk Calculators

Its principal advantages are speed and accuracy in
performing addition, substraction, multiplication and devision. The desk
calculator provides reliable results. At time improper input of the data or
incorrect operation of the machine or both furnish errorneous results. The
electro mechanical desk calculators perform the calculations electrically
operated mechanical devices called counters. A serious limitation with
electro-mechanical and electronic desk calculators is that they require a human
operator at every stage of operation. The manifactures of desk calculators
usually provide instruction manuals with them for the use of their operators.

2.Electronic Digital Computers

Koul stated that electronic digital computers have a long history. The
history of their development can be traced back to the first mechanical
calculator developed by Blaise Pascal in 1642. He developed an automatic
calculating instrument and later conceived an even more an automatic mechine,
which used punched cards to control and perform complex operations with
capability for printing the results.

Language of the Computer

A computer is an
ingenious and versatile machine. It can manipulate symbols that represent
information, has the ability to remember or store these symbols, and can
restore them later. The instructions in the computer are written in a language
or code that the computer is able to “read”. A binary code is the most commonly
used to code within computers. The binary code differs from the commonly used
decimal system. There are various ways for converting binary number to decimal
number. The research must understand the binary code to know the working of a
computer, but he no longer has to use the binary code when writting programme
for the computer.

Elements of a Computer System

In this part, Lokesh Koul tried to explain the
parts of the computer. He said that a computer system consists of psycal
equipment called hardware and combination of instruction, called programmes or
soft-ware.

1.Hardware of a Computer System

The essential elements of a computer system with regard
to hardware are: input devices, central processing unit, main storage and
output devices. Input refers to the tranferring of data from an external
storage medium into the internal storage of the computer. Information or data
are entered into the computer through the use of card reader, mark sense cards,
or optical character readers that translates printed page information to
punched cards or magnetic tape. Central processing unit controls and directs
the entire of computer system. it also performs the data treatment functions of
additional subtractions, multiplication, division, shifting, moving, comparing
and storing. The central processing unit consists of the arithmetic or logic
unit and the control unit. While main storage of the computer system is that
storage which is directly accessible to the central processing unit. The main
storage unit of a computer is like a block of post office boxes and the main
storage capacity of the computer system must be considered by the researcher in
relation to the size of sample, the number of variables and the complexity of
the calculations involved in the study. And the last part of the hardware of
the computer is output devices. The output unit receives data in machine
language from the storage unit and translates it into a language which a human
being or a machine can understand.

2.Software or Programme of the Computer System

A computer system operates in accordance with spesific instructions. Such
instruction defines an operation to be performed. It also specifies the data,
device, or mechanism needed to carry out the operation. These instructions are
reffered to as a programme. A computer is useless until a programmer writes a
detailed set of instructions to be loaded into its internal storage (memory)
unit.

Interpretation of Results

Lokesh Koul said
that once the research data have been collected and the analysis has been made,
the researcher can proceed to the stage of interpreting the results. The
researcher should keep the following factors in view while making
interpretation of the result :

1.Ignoring Unstudied Factors In Interpretation

In any type of educational research, the researcher is
generally guided by the factors or variables which he has studied during the
research process. He totally ignores the influence or effects of unstudied
factors while interpretating the results of his study.

2.Ignoring Selective Factors in Interpretation

A researcher may grossly misrepresent the truth if he
ignores the selective factors. This is more evidient in the studies where a
selective group is made the subject of investigation or where a particular
factors operating in the situation studied.

3.Interpreting Expected Results

While interpreting the expected results, the reseacher
has to keep in mind that he does not go beyond his data support and that he
does not forget the limitation of the study. the researcher has to be cautious
in reporting all such factors which could account for the results.

4.Interpreting Negative Results

Researcher often on arriving at results contrary to what
they had hypothesized jump to develop a sort of defence mechanism by making a
cry of all factors that could have possibly vitiated the results. Hypotheses
arise out of guess work and can not be accepted as right in the beginning
without testing them for confirmation.

5.Interpreting Results When the Null Hypotheses is Retained

A retained null hypotheses may occure for several reasons
:

·There may be no relationship between the variables; or
the experimental variable may not be more effective than the control variable

·The null-hypotheses is false, but the internal validity
problems of data contiminated the investigation so badly that the actual
relationship between the variables could not be established

·The null-hypotheses is false, but the research design
lacked the answer to reject it

6.Interpreting Results When Null Hypotheses is Rejected

If a null hypotheses is rejected and the variables other than the variables
under study, that were likely to affect the results were well contolled in the
study, the reseacher may say that the behaviour of the variables mentioned in
the research hypotheses, which was converted into the null hypotheses for being
tested.

7.Interpreting Unhypothesized Relationships

Lokesh Koul said that any unhypothesized relationship
that the researcher may observe during the conduct of a study should not be
ignored. It should be recognized and analysed throughly.

Formulation of Conclusions and Generalizations

In the light of
the interpretation of data, the researcher has to use all care and caution in
formulating his conclusions and generalizations. This final step of research
process demands critical and logical thinking in summarizing the findings of
the study and compares them with the hypoteses formulated in the beginning.

Chapter 8 : Statistical
Methods

Lokesh Koul
described in this chapter as follows. The first section deals with definition
of term “measurement” and its various levels. The second section describe the
procedures of classifying data and their graphical representation. Third major
section lists various statistical measures. The fourth section describes the
uses of the correlation in the evaluation of reliability and validity of tests.
And the fifth and final section lists and describes briefly the limitation of
statistical methods.

Measurement and Levels

Measurement is defined as the assignment of
numbers to objects and events according to logically accepted rules. Lokes Koul
said that a convenient way of classification of the measurement levels is made
by Stevens (1951). According to this classification, there are four levels of
measurement scales they are nominal scales, ordinal scales, interval scales,
ratio scales

Classification of Data

The educational
research, while measuring mental and physical traits, Lokesh Koul gathers data
for various attributes or qualities which exhibit differences in magnitude, and
which vary along some dimensions.

Test scores or
other numbers in continuous series are taken as distances along a continum
rather than as discrete points. A centimetre is the linear magnitude between
two devisions on a footrule.

Graphic Representation of Data

Graphic
representation often facilitates understanding of a set of data. If the graphic
is well drawn, it is usually easier to read and interpret data. We shall
considere here only those graphs which are useful in visualizing the important
properties of frequency distribution.

Koul said that
there are four methods of graphic representation of data are in general use,
they are:

1.Histogram or Column Diagram

A histogram or coulumn diagram is a graph is which class
intervals are represented along the horizontal axis called x-axis and their
corresponding frequencies are represented by areas in the form of rectangular
bars drawn on the intervals.

2.Frequency Polygon

Another method of representing a frequency distribution
graphically is what is known as the frequency polygon. The first two steps are
identical with those used in the construction of the histogram.

3.Comulative Frequency Curve

Comulative frequency curve differs from frequency polygon
in the respects. First, instead of plotting points corresponding to
frequencies, second, instead of plotting ponits above the mid-points of each
class, we plot our point above the exact upper limit of the class. This is done
because in this graph we wish to presentative the number of cases falling above
or below the particular values.

4.The Cumulative Persentage Curve or Ogive

The cumulative persentage curve or ogive differs from the cumulative
frequency curve in that frequencies are expressed as cumulative percents of on
the vertical axis instead of as cumulative frequencies

Descriptive Statistical Measures

Descriptive
statistical measure are used to describe the characteristic of sample or
popiulation in totality. They limit generalization to the participant group of
individuals observed or studied. No conclusions are extend beyond this group.
The measures of descriptive statistics most commonly used in educational
research are :

1.Measures of Central Tendency or averages

The three most commonly used measures of central tendency
are the means, the median and the mode. The mean of a distribution is commonly
understood as the arithmetic average. It is perhaps the most familiar, most
frequently used and well understood average. The median is a point in an array,
above and below which one-half of the scores fall. It is a measure of position
rather than of magnitude. The mode is defined as the most frequently occuring
score in a distribution.

2.Measures of Variability

It is also called a measure of spread or dispersion.
There are several measures of variability, but Lokesh Koul here limits the
discussion to those that are most useful to a researcher. These include the
range, the variance and the standard deviation. The range is the most general
and simplest measure of variability. It is defined as the difference between
the most extreme scores in a distribution. The variance is the average of the
squared deviations of the measures or scores from their mean. While the
standard deviation is the positive square root of variance.

3.Measures of Relative Positions

According to Lokesh Koul, he described that relative
position has a comparation that may be done with the help of the following
measures, they are sigma scores, standard scores, percentiles and percentile
ranks.

4.Measures of Relationship

When we study
bevariate data we may like to know the degree of relationship between variables
of such data. This degree of relationship is known as correlation. It can be
represented quantitatively by the coefficient of correlation. When the
relationship between two sets of variables is a pure-chance relationships, we
say no correlation.

Uses of Correlation

According to
Lokesh Koul statement, that he said on his book that the coefficient of
correlation is used :

·To evaluate the degree of reliability and validity
of psychology tests and inventories

·In the technique of factor analysis; and

·To make prediction

Limitations of Statistical Methods

Based on Lokesh
Koul Statement on his book, that there are a number of limitations that should
be recognized in using statistical methods, and in drawing conclusions from
statistical treatment of the data. On this part of chapter, Koul shown the
opinion of Best (1977) which has listed them as under :

1.Statistical process is the servant of logic and only has
value if it verifies, clarifies, and measures relationships that have been
established by clear and logical analysis.

2.A statistical process should not be employed in the
analysis of data unless the basic assumptions and limitations underlying its
uses are clearly understood.

3.The conclusion derivied from statistical analysis will be
no more accurate or valid than the original data.

4.All treatment of data must be checked and double checked
frequently to minimized the likehood of errors in measurements, recording,
tabulation and analysis.

5.There is a constant margin of error wherever measurement
by human being is involved.

Chapter
9 : Inferential
Statistics

In this chapter
Lokesh Koul explained two major sections. The first section deals with
statistical inference based on parametric tests. The second deals with the
statistical inference based non-parametric tests.

Statistical Inference Based On Parametric Tests

Koul said that
parametric tests are useful and the most powerful tests for testing the
significance and trustworthiness of the computed sample statistics. This test
shouldbe used:

·When the variables described are expressed in interval or
ratio scale and not in nominal or ordinal scales of measurement

·When the population values are normally distributed

·When the samples have equal or nearly equal variances

·When the selection of one case in the sample is not
dependent upon selection of any other

Analysis of Variance

Koul said that we use Z and t test to determine wheter there is any significant difference
between the means of two random samples. The technique of analysis the variance
would make it possible to determine if any of the two of the six means differ
significantly from each other single test, called F test, rather than 15 t test.

·All the groups of a certain criterion or of the
combination of more than one criterion should be randomly chosen from the
sub-population having the same criterion

·The sub-groups under investigation should have the same
variability

Statistical Inference Based On Parametric Tests

So far, Lokesh
Koul has explained about the statistical inference based on parametric tests,
involving the assumptions based upon the nature of the population distribution,
and on the type of measurement scale is used to quantify the data or
observations. More recently there has been development of another category of
lists which do not make numerous or stringent assumptions about the nature of
the population distribution. This category is called distribution-free-or-non-parametric-tests.

Non-parametric
tests are used when:

·The nature of the population from which sample are drawn,
is known to be normal

·The variables are expressed in nominal form, that is
classified in categories and represented by frequency counts

·The variables are expressed in ordinal form, that is
ranked in order or expressed in numerical scores which have the strength of
ranks

Chapter 10 : The Research
Report

In this chapter,
Lokesh Koul tried to describe the procedure followed in the preparation of the
research report. It has four sections. The first section outlines and describes
in detail the general format of the research report under three sub-sections :
the preliminery section, the body of the report or text and the refernce
section. The second section describesbriefly the style and format of writting
the research report logically and objectively. The third section describes in
detail the procedure which is followed in typing different sections of the
research report. The fourth and the final section provides certain hints which
are useful in detecting and correcting the typing errors while making proof
reading of the final research report.

General Format of the Research Report

Lokesh Koul said
that in some universities, research organizations or journal boards have
established their own format to which their theses, dissertations or research
papers must conform,but all formats are
somewhat similar to the following outline which comprises of three main
sections :

1.Preliminery section

·Title page

·Preface, including acknowledgments (if necessary)

·Table of contents

·List of tables

·List of figures, maps or illustration (if any)

2.Body of the report or text including :

·Introduction (statement of the problem, analysis of the
previous research, relation of present problem to the theoretical position of
the previous research, significance of the problem, delimitations of the study,
assumptions underlying hypotheses, statement of hypotheses and definition of
the important terms)

·Design of the study

·Analysis and interpretation of the data

·Summary and conclusions

3.Reference section

4.Preliminery section

Style and Format of Writing

1.Language

Koul said that the presentation of the research report should be creative,
logical and concise making use of simple common words and sentence structure
whenever possible. Its language should be formal and straight forward avoiding
slang, proverbial or discourtegous phrases. The researcher should make use of a
handbook of style, a good dictionary and a spelling guide. The present tense
used be used when the researcher is reffrering the readers to the tables and
charts that are presently before him and when he is presenting general truths
and well- established principles.

Typing of The Research Report

In this part,
Lokesh Koul tried to explain and viewed about how the right way to typing the
research report. He said it is the responsibility of the researcher to present
manuscript material to the proffesional typist in proper form. A well and
acurrately typed report makes its presentation interesting and meaningful to
the reader. The following are some rules which should be followed while typing
the research reports :

1.General Rules for Typing Research Report

According to Lokesh Koul, these are the general rules for
typing research report:

·A white bond paper of 8,5 by 11 inches size of 13 to 16
pound weight should be used for the original and first carbon copy of the
thesis or dissertation

·Material should be type on one side of the paper

·A typewriter with large type should be preffered

·Use a non-greasy, fresh and black and carbon paper

·The right margin should be one inches

2.Rules for typing different sections of research report

·Title page. The title should be typed in capital letters
beginning in six spaces from the top of the pages

·Preface or acknowledgment page

·Table of contents

Proof Reading of The Final Draft of The Research Report

When the final
typed copy of the report completed, it is necessary to proof read each page
carefully. The typing errors are best detected by proof reading each line from
right to left. The correction should always be made by typewriter and not in
ink. It is advisable to retype the page if there are more than one or two
corrections. Mathematical and some other special symbols are not available on
the typewriter.

Chapter 11 : Methods of
Educational Research

Lokesh koul
described and explained just two sections in this chapter. The first section
deals briefly with the importance of research methods and their classification
into three basic categories : historical method, descriptive method and
experimental method. The second section describes in detail the historical
method with emphasis with the following aspects : nature of historical
research, value of historical method in education, types of historical research
and steps in historical research.

The Importance Of Research Methods

Research methods
are of utmost importance in a research process. Methods of research, Lokesh
Koul viewed the expert’s opinion (Good, Barr and Scates) may be classified from
many points of view. A researcher must have a through understanding of all
research methods with particular reference to their strengths, limitations and
appropriateness. It will help him to carefully plan the steps he will take in
the research process and describe the method clearly before he actually starts
working on the solution of the problem.

The Historical Method

History is a meaningful and an organised record of past
events. It is not merely a list of events arranged chronologically, but a valid
integrated account of social, cultural, economic and political forces that had
operated simultineously to produce a historical event.

Historical research, as any other type of research, includes the
delimitation of a problem and other, however, the historian faces greater
difficulties than researchers in any other field. The job of the historian
becomes more complicated when he derives truth from historical evidence.
Historical research has great value in the field of educational research
because it is necessary to know and undertstand educational achievements and
trends of the past in order to gain perspective on present and future
predictions.

Types of Historical Research

According to Lokesh Koul, historical studies that could
be conducted with profit to the field of education may include the following:

1.Bibliographic research. Bibliographic research aims at
determining and presenting truthfully the importance facts about the life,
characters and achievements of important educators.

2.Legal research

Legal research is of immense value and interest to
educational administrators. It aims to study the legal basis of educational
institutions run by different religions and castes, relation between central
and state governments with regard to education etc.

3.Studying the history of ideas

It involves the
tracing of major philosophical and scientific thoughts from their origins
through their different stages of development.

4.Studying the history of institutions and organizations

It also provide numerous problems for significant
historical research. When studying such history, the same general method
applies as for the study of an educator’s life.

Steps in Historical Research

While the steps in historical research in generally
accroding to Koul involved the following steps:

1.Selection of the problem

He may delimit his study to an era of events in a local,
regional or national testing, or he may study the trend of events in different
areas, societies, or different cultures. He should check that the problem
detected should not only be of historical and current significant, but
answerable by available methods of research and by the available sources data.

2.Formulation of hypotheses

The hypotheses for historical research may not be formal
hypotheses to be tested, rather, they are written as explicit statements that
tentatively explain the occurence of events and conditions. While formulating
hypotheses, a researcher may formulate questions that are most appropriate for
the past events he is investigating and then directs his research towards
seeking answer to these questions with the help of evidence.

3.Collection of data

After the problem has been detected and stated and
appropriate hypotheses or questions have been formulated, the researcher have
to collect all the data available so that the hypothese may be throughly
verified. These data can be classified into primary and secondary sources.

The primary sources are eye witness accounts and are the
only solid bases of historical enquiry. We can get these data from personal
records, official records, oral testimony of traditions and events, pictorial
records, mechanical records and remains or relics.

The secondary sources are accounts of an event provided
by a person who did not directly observe the event, object, or condition. The
person may have directly contacted an actual observer and talked with him or
read an account by an observer. Secondary sources, if used carefully, serve
many useful purposes.

4.Criticism of data

After the data have been identified, the researcher must
learn to read them correctly as a basis for developing sound ideas of the past,
which in turn may help in interpreting present trends and possibly in
predicting future events. The process of establishing authenticity of the data
is termed as external criticism and internal criticism. External criticism is
also called as lower criticism. It helps to determine whether it is what it
appears or claims to be and whether it reads true to be original so as to save
the researcher from being the victim of a fraud. While the internal criticism is
positive in nature when the researcher seeks to disciver the literal and the
real menaing of the text. It is negative when the researcher tries to seek
every possible reason for disbelieving the statement made etc

5.Interpretation and reporting of findings

After the data have been collected and criticized, the
researcher turns himself to the task of interpretation of these data in the
light of his problem. The researcher in historical type of investigation must
be very cautious while dealing with “cause and effect” relationships. The
historical researcher must also very cautious in his use of analogy in the
interpretation of data. The ultimate goal in the historical type of research is
not only to establish facts but also to determine trends which the data may
suggest and to draw inferences from the data.

6.Writing of the research report

The writing of historical research report needs the
highest level of relationship on the part of the researcher. The researcher
must be elegant and objective in his style of writing the research report. The
historical report must be presented in the logical , chronological and topical
order. Reports of historical research should neither be dull and unattractive
nor too flowery and ornamental. They must follow precision, continuity, clarity
and dignity in their style to give a sense of design and completeness.

Chapter 12 : The Descriptive
Method

Lokesh Koul
devided this chapter into three sections. The first section deals with the
nature of descriptive research. The second section describes briefly the value
of descriptive research in education. The third section is devided into four
subsections that describe in detail the four categories of descriptive research.

Nature of Descriptive Research

Lokesh Koul on
this part tried to describe what actually the nature of descriptive research
and for what. He said that descriptive research studies are designed to obtain
pertinent and precise information concerning the current status of phenomena
and whenever possible to draw valid general conclusions from the facts
discovered. Descriptive studies are more than just a collection of data, but
they involoved measurement, classification and analysis, comparison and
interpretation. Descriptive studies investigate phenomena in their natural
setting. Their purpose is both immediate and long range. It also differs from
other types of research in purpose and type. Lokesh Koul also said that
descriptive studies vary greatly in complexity. At one extreme, they constitute
nothing more than frequency count of events to the study of local problems
without any significant research purpose. At the other extreme, they temp to
ascertain significant interrelationships among phenomena.

Value of Descriptive Research in Education

The descriptive
research in education helps to explain the educational phenomena in terms of
the conditions or relationships that exist, opinions that are held by the
students, teachers, parents and experts. The descriptive investigations are of
immense value in solving problems about children, school organizations,
supervision and administration, curriculum, teaching methods and evaluation.

The problems in
education directly involve people and the situations precipitating these
problems are constantly in a stage of change. The descriptive type of research
is useful in the development of data gathering instruments and tools like
checklists, schedules, questionnaires and rating scales.

Types of descriptive Research

Lokesh koul
explained three types of descriptive studies, they are:

1.Survey Studies

Survey studies are conducted to collect detailed
descriptions of existing phenomena with the intent of employing data to justify
current conditions and practices or to make more intelligent plans for
improving them. Survey studies may take different forms depending upon the
scope, nature and purpose of the problem under investigation. They may be broad
or narrow in scope. Survey studies describe and specify the properties of
educational phenomena. They include school surveys, job analysis, public
opinion surveys, and social surveys.

2.Interrelationship Studies

The studies that endeavour to discover relationship
between various facts of the existing phenomena are called as
interrelationships studies. These include case studies, causal-comparative
studies, correlation and prediction studies, cross cultural and comparative
studies.

3.Developmental Sudies

Developmental studies are used for investigating the characteristics
children and the ways in which this characteristics change with growth and
development. Developmental studies are also called as genetic studies. The
genetic or developmental studies may take three different forms-growth studies,
follow up studies and trend studies.

Steps in Descriptive Research

The process of
descriptive studies is not different from other forms of research. According to
Lokesh Koul, the reseacrher may addopt the following steps:

1.Selection of the
problem

2.Statement and definition of the problem

The statement must identify the variables involved in the
study. It should specify clearly whether the study is merely seeking to
determine the present status of these variables or whether it will also explore
relationships between the variables

3.Identification of data

A researcher has to specify whether the data are
qualitative or a quantitative nature and whether the data will be collected in
the form of counts, test scores, responses to questionnaires etc

4.Selection or development of tools

5.Selection of the sample

6.Collection of data

7.Analysis and interpretation of data

8.Writing of the research report

Chapter 13 : Experimental
Method

On this chapter
Lokesh Koul described five sections. The first section describe in detail the
nature of experimental research. The second section which is quite brief, deals
with the value of experimental research in education. The third section
describes the steps which the researcher may adopt in conducting experimental
research. The fourth section describe in detail the nature of experimental
designs. And the fifth or final section deals with different types of
experimental designs.

Nature of Experimental Research

In descriptive
research, Lokesh Koul said a researcher may analyse the data he has collected
and discovers that different variables are related. Experimental method, on the
other hand, provides for mush control and therefore, establishes a systematic
and logical association between manipulated factors and observed effects.

According to
Lokesh Koul, there are four essential characteristics of experimental research
as the following :

1.Control

Control is the essential ingredient of experimental
methods. In this part, Koul viewed the opinion of Van Dalen (1973) about the
purpose of a researcher in controlling variables, they are achieving isolation,
achieving changes in magnitude, and achieving quantitative evaluation. Lokesh
koul stated that there are two types in methods of control, they are methods
for controlling inter-subject differences and methods for controlling
situational variables.

2.Manipulation

Manipulation of a
variable is another distinguising characteristic of experimental research. It
refers to a deliberate operation of the condition by the researcher.

3.Observation

In the experimental research, the researcher studies the
effect of the manipulation of the independent variable on a dependent variable.

4.Replication

Replication is a matter of conducting a number of sub-experiments within a
framework of an overall experimental design. The researcher, instead of
comparing a single control case with a single experimental case, makes a
multiple comparison of a number of cases of the control group, all within the
same experimental framework.

Value of Experimental Research in Education

Experimental research is used to determine and
evaluate the eduquacy and effectiveness of the educational and instructional
objectives through the measurement of their outcomes. After evaluating the
afficacy of objectives, the suggestions are made for the formulation, execution
and modification of the eduactional programmes and classroom practices.

Steps in Experimental Research

Lokesh Koul said
that the steps of the experimental methods are not different from those of a
scientific methods. For the sake of clarification, the major steps may be
described as under :

1.Survey the literature relating to the problem

2.Selecting and defining the problem

3.Stating of hypotheses

4.Constructing the experimental plan

Experimental Designs

Lokesh Koul
explained in this section that there are three important criteria which the
researcher must keep in mind while selecting an experimental design for
conducting his experiment.

1.Appropriateness

This is the most important criterion is that the design
should be appropriate for testing the hypotheses of the study.

2.Adequacy of Control

The adequate control of extranous variables helps the researcher to get
dependable answers to the questions raised by the hypotheses of the study.

3.Validity

Campbell and Stanley (1963) have suggested that there are
two general types of validity : internal and external.

4.Some Terms and Symbols

·Experimenter

·Subjects

·Independent variable

·Dependent variable

·Control group

·Experimental group

·Pre-test

·Post-test

Types of Experimental Designs

Lokesh Koul
stated in this section that there are various types of experimental designs.
They vary in complexity and adequacy. Although the designs can be combined into
various ways, they are broadly classified as under :

1.Pre-Experimental Designs

Pre-experimental designs provide little or no control of
extranous of situation variables. There are two types of pre-experimental
designs :

·Design 1 : one group pre-test post-test design.

·Design 2 : two group, static design

2.True Experimental Design

True experimental design are mostly
used for experimental research in education because they seek to control the
main effects of history, maturation, testing, measuring instruments,
statistical regression, selection, and mortality. The experimental designs can
be classified into four types, they are :

A factorial design enables the
experimenter to evaluate or two or more variables simultaneously in order to
study the effects of number of independent factors singly as well as the
effects due to interactions with one another.

The factorial designs can be
cassified into one type, there is :

·Design 8 : simple factorial design

4.Quasi – experimental designs

Quasi experimental design provides as much control as possible under the
existing conditions. Some of the important quasi - experimental design are
discussed as under :

·Design 9 : non-randomized control group, pretest-posttest
design

·Design 10 : counterbalanced design

·Design 11 : one-group time-series design

3. CRITICAL
REVIEW

Knowledge of
research methodology is essensial for those who either play an active role in
the conduct of research or desire to keep themselves abreast of the new
developments in the existing knowledge.

Lokesh Koul in
his third edition book with the title “Methodology of Educational Research” containing
an up to date account of the methods and techniques suited to the field of
education, Lokesh Koul as an author provides an understanding of significant
educational problems that need to be tackled. It also discusses the steps that
the researcher is expected to take for conducting a research study. Priority areas
of educational research in India in the context of National Educational Policy
(1986) and its programme of action (1992) and Survey of Research in Education
are also provided.

This book that
have written by Lokesh Koul I think have given the most effect for educational
especially in methodoly of education. He provided much theory and research
straight in India and the data I think was really accurate because he is also a
proffesional researcher. According to my mind, Lokesh Koul is a great author,
he took his Ph. D. From the Kurukshetra University and presently, he is working
as a proffesor, Head and Dean, Faculty of Education and Dean of Studies and
Academic Affairs of Himachal Pradesh University. Beside that he is also a
member of the Distance Education Council and a Consultant, Commonwealth Higher
Education Management Service, London. Many of Lokesh Koul’s book is really used
for many countries and part of education. He is a good author. He has been
contributing research paper to various international journals and has been
associated with project Himachal Pradesh.

Reviewing the research studies on
Distance Education in India, Prof Lokesh Koul made a very significant
observation that “barring a couple of studies, the researches did not show any
qualitative trend with respect to the theory and practice of distance
education”. He points out the lack of region-specific, target-specific type of
researches. “Studies are based on arbitrary combinations of variables relating
psychology, economics, sociology, pedagogy, media, management, etc. without
taking into consideration their implications for the clientele and catchment
area, thus lacking long-range perspective andrelevance to future planning of
distance education programmes”.

While pointing towards the future
research priorities in India, Prof Koul rightly foreses that by 2025, with an
approximate population of 130-140 crores, India will present an extremely
diverse scenario where, “The degree and level of education varies from place to
place, depending on the nearness or accessibility of a village to urban
centres, the rate of literacy, the quality of local leadership; the traditional
roots and attitude towards modernization; communication network and exposure to
the outside world; basic economic problems as a result of poverty, and the
interaction at the socio-economic levels. In this context, the education system
requires to handle large numbers and be accessible to people at large especially
at the bottom of the ‘socioeconomic pyramid’.

Well, beside
Lokesh Koul tried to describe the Indian research, the book also content the
complete of whole methodology of educational research, started with the
introduction of what is the methods of acquiring the knowledges, areas of
educational research, the research problem and preparation of the research
proposal until finally he also explained about the experimental methods.

This book seeks to give a comprehensive
overview of methods used in educational research. The book presents itself as
being well updated, expanded, and revised, with the inclusion of recent
literature, examples, and illustrations. The book is well-grounded in theory
and explains the theoretical context comprehensively. What makes this book
particularly useful is the extensive use of illustrations and examples, making
the material easily applicable to one’s own context and conveys what are
difficult concepts to comprehend in an easily understandable fashion. Added to
this is the easy-to-read style of writing used in the book, explaining concepts
in a systematic, step by step manner, and encouraging the reader to continue.

Well, overall this book is really good
to be read and to learn of course. But above all the good things that I have
explained above, there is a weakness that I see in this book. The weakness is
the author did not explain yet about how to write the proposal, as how as we
know that in the educational research we need to write a proposal.

4. CLOSING/
CONCLUSION

Based on the
explanations above, I think this book is really useful for those people who
really interest in education, a researcher or student maybe because it is
content a complete explanation and easy to use. The language also easy to
understand.

The author is
objective in writing this book. He explained basic on the research he has made
and also explained and viewed the other experts’s opinions and I think he has
achieved his goal in writing this book.

Basic on the
sentence that i have explained above about Lokesh Koul book’s weakness, I
suggest to the author in his next edition to add a section which will explain
about the proposal so that the reader can understand more about the educational
research.

Well, overall and
finally I have to say that this book is very useful for every people who read
it. And me as the reviewer will suggest this book to my friends because this
book is truly wonderful.